Sitting in a Tree
by Eternal Contradiction
Summary: A series of one shots centering Relena, Heero and a kiss. [Complete]
1. K

Summary: A series of one shots centering Relena, Heero and a kiss.

Chapter 1: K

* * *

"… and that concludes today's lecture on peaceful solutions to the Ionconda Dispute. My assistant will answer any questions you may have." Seriously, these political wankers were taking complete advantage of her views on pacifism. Fishing territory disputes and Free Air Rights were not her concern. It's like every man and his pet dog expected her to show up and give her opinions at protests and anything that could lead to minor quarrels in the future.

One of her secretaries handed her a glass of water as she walked offstage. She finished it and passed it to one of her many escorts as she was safely navigated out of the building and into the waiting limo. With graceful practice, she sat down in the low limo seat and slid her legs in without showing any skin. It was an art, seriously. She glanced morosely at the passing buildings of Noventa University, and the extreme irony of this being Heero's school of choice. She had been there and departed without seeing him, and while this was not unusual, it still hurt.

Relena sighed and leaned back on the leather seat. What would he say if she just showed up at his door? What would he do? Think? She smiled naughtily, figuring this was just a good of time as any to introduce good ol' NovU the girlfriend Heero didn't even know he had.

Sorry, that's right; he now goes by the name Peter Kent. A name Duo ironically made from Superman and Spiderman's everyday pseudonyms.

Mind made up, Relena calmly awaited her arrival to the hotel. She was going to knock his socks off.

* * *

It took her a few minutes to change her classy business dress into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She stuffed some provisions into a backpack and left her suite, refusing to let any of the bodyguards come with her.

Of course they did anyway, following at a discrete distance. She anticipated this, hence the backpack. She entered a mall a few blocks away and hedged around a few stores. After doing an inconspicuous amount of shopping in order to make her next move look more natural, she entered a busy woman's washroom.

She made short work of discarding her jeans and t-shirt, grabbing and hauling a pair of leather pants and a jacket on over her lacy underwear. Leaving the clothes and backpack in the stall, she went out to the sink and placed a black wig on her head. As a final step, she tinted her eyes green and left with a gaggle of teenage girls. Undetected by her bodyguards, who obviously weren't very good, she easily disentangled herself from the group and left the mall.

Relena entered a car rental next door and quickly asked for what she wanted. With a few flashes of the fake ID Duo procured for her, and a few signatures, she drove away on a very sleek and narrow silver motorcycle.

The drive through the city streets wasn't difficult and she made quick work of the busy roads and sharp corners. She drove onto university campus for the second time that day. The vast grounds was on the edge of city and suburbs, and though many modern campuses limited itself to one huge skyscraper, this one was like a picture right out of the AD era.

The bike pulled up in front of Heero's dorm, and she quickly took off the helmet, giving her hair a good shake. She placed it in front of her, and remained straddling the bike as she vainly ran her fingers through her hair. It was a planned motion, so she could make sure the wig was still in place and give Heero time to come meet her. She had no qualms about his abilities. He did know she was here.

She carefully got off the bike, evoking a few whistles from passing college men. She calmly ascended the front stairs, slightly worried that this wasn't the best idea. She finished the few stairs and strode towards the front door. A hand clasped her wrist and she was shoved against a nearby pillar.

Rough fingers dug into her hips as he pushed against her. She was literally stuck between a hard place and… well, the pillar. insert naughty grin She blinked up at him, a slight smile hovering on her lips as he leaned down slightly, staring her in the eye.

"Peter." Her voice drew his attention to her lips, and she could see his intention in the normally unemotional eyes before he closed the small distance between her lips and his. His lips were deceptively soft and playful, nudging and teasing her own. She slid her hands around his back, wishing to keep him kissing her for eternity.

He pulled back. "Heather." That slight Heero smirk.

She reeled back, giving her head a good whack against the pillar. Except he did manage to get his hand in the way first, dulling the pain a bit. With one hand relaxing behind her head and the other braced above him, he leaned in and rested his head against her shoulder.

"Watch out Relena, your jealousy is showing." The slight whisper spread warm air through her hair.

She turned her head towards him and whispered back. "At least my real hair isn't." And it wouldn't, Heero would never break their cover. He kissed her again, urgent and demanding, the type of kiss that could go into dangerous territory if they weren't careful. Relena unconsciously slid her hand up his strong back and into his soft, disheveled hair. In return his hand slowly unzipped her jacket and slipped beneath it.

He halted the embrace and looked down at her, brows knitted in confusion until he figured out she was only wearing a bra underneath. Warm breath exhaled against her neck.

"Let's go inside." He grabbed her hand and shot a suspicious glare at all the voyeuristic fools gawking at them.


	2. KI

Chapter 2/7: Sitting in a Tree K-I

Summary: A series of one shots centering Relena, Heero and a kiss.

* * *

The pale autumn sun gleamed sorrowfully through the brightly colored leaves not yet littering the lawn. A brisk breeze danced with the foliage, occasionally carrying off a leaf into a solitary waltz. A blond haired woman walked slowly through her garden, occasionally marvelling at the strength of a resilient flower. The familiar soft padding of following footsteps had returned to the house and for the first time in weeks she was left unguarded.

She was somewhat bored. No one was around to torment by tripping and almost falling into a rose bush as they dove to protect her; no one to annoy with ceaseless prattle about nothing of importance; no one for her to subtly imply they were gaining weight. It was a game to see which guard would quit first, and she was sure she was wearing a few down to bitter distaste for their job. She would do anything to spite (and in truth, to get the attention of) their boss, of whom she hadn't seen in two months, a week, three days and a number of hours.

The carefree feeling of freedom was quickly overlaid by a surprising sensation of utter loneliness. She did not wish to dwell on her solitariness, and briskly left the secure confines of her private garden and continued onto the vast lawn of her estate. The wide patch of grass between the house and the trees was not only a lovely view, but also a nuisance to maintain and a primitive, yet effective, form of security. It was more difficult to sneak across a large vacant field without detection than it was a forest. Her lawn got the Heero grunt of approval.

Which was fine and dandy for her lawn, but when you got down to it, being jealous of some grass wasn't very healthy.

A chilling breeze created a wave effect through the grass, curling around her legs and wafting her hair. Relena paused for a second to feel the brisk draft tingle on her fair skin, trying to numb her nose with a hint of frost. Her breath condensed into puffy little clouds, giving her the urge to shiver, but also giving her hope for the first snowfall.

The grass was crisp beneath her feet but still neatly manicured and raked with pride. Winter was coming and soon it would all be covered in a thick layer of snow. The forest beckoned her with its shady secrets and fallen foliage. She needed the dangerous fun of jumping and shuffling through leaves hiding threats of rocks and sharp branches. It was the closest thing to a hazard she'd find on her property, and such a childish amusement. She needed to prove that Relena Dorlian, Foreign Minister and former Queen could still be young.

It was too easy to slip into the forest. She hurried the first few feet, trying to lose herself amid the bare trees. The forest was thick enough to enable foliage cover after a dozen meters, and she stopped dead to listen to the sounds of the forest. Leaves rustled, a distant dog barked, and her controlled breathing was low and shallow. There was nary a whisper of sound in the peaceful woods.

She followed a natural path, created by branches and roots years before she had been born. Occasionally, she would go out of her way in order to shuffle through a mound of dampened, yet crisp, beautifully hued leaves. It was slightly warmer in the forest, the trees a barrier to the wind, but no longer stopping the sun from shining on the exposed woodland bed.

Relena swung around a supple tree, laughing in surprise when she almost tripped over a root. She came to a stop and stared when a scratching noise sounded on her right. A few feet away stood a patchy dog of a chocolate color. She felt her heart melt at its thinness and raggedy coat and she wondered if she could find someone to take care of a slightly-worn dog.

It growled nastily at her, drawing her attention to its mouth. The blissful atmosphere changed. Sickly white foam drooled from snarling lips, and her heart almost missed a beat. Rabies. The dog eyed her, remaining surprisingly calm and lulling her into a false sense of security. It barked sharply.

Relena screamed.

The dog attacked.

She automatically took a step backwards, tripping over a root in her frantic haste. The dog was practically on her already. Quickly, she brought her arms up to protect her face. The dog pounced on her stomach, snarling and snapping at her. She could feel claws ripping at her thick sweater, and the teeth sank into the fabric of her sleeve, narrowly missing flesh. She had to use all willpower she possessed not to try to buck it off and aggravate it more. She couldn't remember what to do when faced with a rabid animal, but the thought that it didn't need to be provoked in order to attack kept taunting her as she waited for the pain of splitting flesh that would signify the passing of the virus.

The dog suddenly collapsed.

Blood sprayed in a violent art over the mossy ground and roughly barked trees. It splashed in her hair, marring gold with deep red. She could feel the warm liquid seep through her clothes, and she didn't know whether to feel horror or relief. The dog had been shot down expertly, but she still retained the utter fear that coursed through her veins due to the attack. She couldn't breathe, trapped, sprawled beneath the body as if she was the chalk delineation at the scene of a murder. She was suffocating to death on the smell of fresh blood, a surprisingly familiar stench.

As suddenly as the initial attack ensued, the warm body was roughly grabbed from her inert form and viciously tossed aside. She felt herself being gathered into gentle arms, cradled against the uncontrollable shivers wracking her frame from the inside out.

"You'll be fine after you take a postexposure prophylaxis." A gruff, formal and oh-so-familiar voice informed her.

"Oh, do you think so, Mr. Doesntcareabou…" She started bitterly, picking a fight to get rid of the bitter tang of fear empowering her senses.

He cut her off and pressed a kiss on her forehead. It was a motion so uncharacteristic of him she forgot about everything, if only for a moment. "Yeah I do." He helped her to her feet, supporting most her weight as they twisted through the surprisingly deep forest of her estate. "You'll have a new project to keep you company."

"Making sure I don't turn into a werewolf on the next full moon?" She muttered sarcastically, trying to find out what he knew that she didn't. He just smirked and set to work getting the rabies antidote into her system.

It wasn't until much later, after he disappeared like a wisp of fog in the heat of day, that she found the note he left her containing one insignificant name. She stared at it, realizing this was as much of an invitation as she'd ever get into his life, an invite to come visit him.

She smiled, wanly touching her forehead, and went to sleep with an allowance to dream of the future.

©RelenaFanel2004


	3. KIS

**_Sitting in a Tree K-I-S-_**

It was a beautiful day for a goodbye. The false April sun, monotonously brilliant year-round on the colony, shone with a special light for the day's expectations. She walked with her purposeful stride, black hair curling slightly over strong, yet slight shoulders. Up marbled stairs, and through carpeted lobby, the gathering and gossiping of proud family members muted the clicking of her heels. Who was she to this man? Friend? Potential lover? Annoying stalker? Girlfriend?

After today it would not matter.

She easily found her seat, one dedicated to the family of this year's valedictorian. She felt like a fraud. All around her kin to graduates were taking their seats, filling up the auditorium, and yet she was the only one to represent the smartest, most brilliant man she knew.

Peter Kent was graduating from university.

The ceremony was quickly underway, winding and weaving through the proceedings with a verbosity that would even put some of her speeches to shame. A representative of the Noventa family spoke of how proud they were of this year's graduates and how long their family had personally spoke at every graduation since founding the school. They also said a little piece on peace, blatantly plagiarizing from one of Relena Peacecraft's dissertations.

"… I believe that in order to achieve a unified peace, cautions must be made in concerns to education. For eons, we humans have been striving to better ourselves, now is the time to reach within our intelligence and…"

Bastards. Direct quote. She should know, she wrote it herself.

"… Now without further ado, I give you our valedictorian, Peter Kent."

All air collapsed from Relena's lungs. The name might be different, but the man stalking across the stage in the foolish gown and cap was wholly Heero. University had changed him greatly in such a short time. In a typical Heero fashion he had adapted his life to blend in, letting her squeeze into a small gap created with the change.

He faced the crowd and smirked, looking oh, so, handsome and confident as he prepared to speak. Relena never knew what to expect him to say when he was pressed to public speak.

"First, I'd like to thank Relena Peacecraft for writing that rousing speech we just listened to."

Relena felt her mouth drop open. She definitely would never have guessed he'd say something like that. When had he gotten so cocky? Oh right, once again she was forgetting that this is HEERO. The Noventa representative turned red, boiling with fury at the audacity that was their best and brightest. A few of the grads twittered, but most didn't understand, or weren't amused. Heero's eyes easily met hers despite the harsh lights shining in his eyes, or the disguise she was wearing.

"Second, I'd like to thank her for my presence here today. If it wasn't for her, many of us would be stuck in the endless waltz of war." He paused with a smirk, not finishing the quote she knew so well. His eyes were still locked with hers, digging deep into her soul and wrenching her heart into a lurching beat.

She rose from her seat and left, not able to take his steady gaze when this visit was a farewell. The carpet hid her departure from the ears of those in rapt attention to the proceedings (or those already asleep), but it couldn't hide her from his watchful eyes.

She turned at the door for one last glance. Heero broke off midspeech and watched her for a moment before abruptly vaulting off the stage. Someone nearby muttered 'wow, he cleared the orchestra pit and everything' as she turned and fled. This time the lobby was dead quite as she rushed through it, mentally wincing at ever click of her highheels. There was no point trying to evade him by attempting to duck into a corridor. She could never move rapidly enough to elude Heero. She didn't even think something traveling at the speed of sound could outrun him.

Heero hadn't let himself go soft when he turned civilian. She was pretty sure he still participated in secret missions in the deep shadows of night and on holidays. A zebra doesn't change his spots. Or, uh... something like that. Now that he was finished with the required education in order to make Colonel in the Preventors, she was afraid he'd revert completely back to the boy she had met on the beach.

He was first and foremost a soldier.

She burst through the doors sharply, knowing not to be lulled into a sense of security because he hadn't caught her yet. If anything, she was more on alert, wondering what was taking him so long.

The asphalt was hard beneath her feet, jarring her toes with every step she took. Confused, she turned the corner to her car still unhampered. He was lounging against her car. Knowing better than to question the great and mighty Heero, she slowed down in an attempt to catch her breath.

He looked amused beneath that perpetual frown. She slid close enough to see the flecks of silver in piercing eyes.

"You shouldn't have cut your speech short." Her mind screamed for her to leave. Or kiss him. Ok, it was leaning closer to snogging.

"I wanted to thank you for coming." He shrugged, as if it was obvious, as if he said things like that everyday.

"You're welcome Peter. I'll miss you." She stretched up and kissed his cheek. Saddened, letting her lips brush and linger against his skin for a moment. "Goodbye."

She got in her car and started the engine, nerves quaking to the extent that her keys wouldn't cooperate. He didn't impede her and some little fraction of her intellect called her a traitor for wanting him to. She looked at him through the window and mouthed 'welcome back Heero,' leaving before the tears began streaming down her broken face.

She never glanced back to see if he understood.

He was Heero, after all.

©RelenaFanel


	4. KISS

_K-I-S-S_

She opened her eyes to darkness and excessive ringing. Rubbing her bleary and tired eyes, she peered at the alarm clock. The darkness could be explained by the early hour, but the ringing could not. With one eye still closed, clinging to the last vestiges of sleep, she glanced around her room for the origin of the noise. She knew it had to come from her cell phone, but finding it was another matter.

She finally noticed the minuscule phone beside her on the nightstand, right where she left it. With a mumbled curse, she turned it on, expecting the person on the other end to have hung up impatiently.

"Hollow?" Her greeting was less awake than she intended, but she supposed at three in the morning any greeting she could manage was lucky. It better not be a reporter.

"Relena?" The woman on the other end sounded less professional than she did. Somehow she managed to recognize the voice, and the panicked pain inflicted in it.

"Hilde?" She shot up in bed, shaking off the dizziness caused by the sharp movement. "What happened?"

"Duo's missing in action." Hilde started crying into the phone. Relena tried calming her friend with words as she flopped out of bed and tugged on a pair of jeans from the laundry pile. "I just… he was… oh God, Relena. I don't know what to do."

"Where are you?"

"The Preventor offices on L3. They called in next of kin. I didn't even know Duo had me as his next of kin." Hilde renewed her sobbing. Relena jabbed at the button on the elevator as she shoved her arms into a jean jacket, then finally gave up and pushed into the stairs.

"Shhh. I'll be there in a few minutes. I just happen to be on L3 this week." Relena hurried down the stairs, praying she was awake enough not to take a tumble on the polished oak floor.

"Yeah. I think that was the point." Hilde replied, almost resentful. Relena didn't have time to dwell on it as she managed to finish her scurry down fourteen flights. She closed the phone with one hand as she broke into the lobby, the doorman scrambled from his napping spot to aid her.

"Miss Dorlain. You didn't call down to request a vehicle. Will it be the jag or the limo this evening?" Unspoken was the question of whether she was going somewhere unsupervised, with a need for discretion, or if she was leaving on business. She always left on business.

"The jag." She impatiently tossed her hair out of her face, vainly wishing for an elastic. "I don't know when I'll be back."

He gave her a kindly 'good-for-you' look, obviously one of the many on the band of Relena-doesn't-have-a-life. It irked her that he thought she was on her way for a romantic rendezvous. A little voice in the back of her head screamed that she was mainly upset by the fact she wasn't.

The jag glided up on the moveable road in front of her condominium. She waved her thanks to the security doorman and hurried down the front steps to her vehicle. As much as she loved her car, it was only an inanimate object, giving her no reason not to speed on the almost deserted roads.

She pulled up outside of Preventor headquarters in a flourish of tires and magnificent blood-red car. She slipped her security pass through the slot and placed her palm on the pressure pad. The gate let her in without a hitch and she drove up to the front of the building, leaving her car to security and technology to handle. A Private, recognized by the wings on his jacket, stopped her outside the door. Rather rudely too, for someone of her priority.

"Identify yourself." His cleanly shaven head reminded her of a peach-egg hybrid.

"Relena Peacecraft Dorlain, Foreign Minister, Queen of Blah." So shoot her, it was early. On a normal day she was too modest to give her long list of credentials. This day was proving to be long and tedious, not giving her time to luxuriate at not being known.

"State your name and purpose here, young lady." His arms were crossed sternly, not booking any amusement at her attempt to be blasé.

"Young lady?" She hadn't been called that since her father died. A glimpse in the glass door behind her perfectly showed the reflection of a young woman with long blond hair, shining blue eyes, wearing a tiny camisole under a jean ensemble. And holy crap she wasn't wearing a bra! "Look here, you…"

She was cut off when he raised his hand and placed a finger on the tiny speaker in his ear. He blushed up to the crown of his hair-less head and started apologizing into the mic before he turned towards her.

"I'm sorry Miss Dorlain. If you will follow me, I'll escort you to the elevator." She fell into step behind him. "I've been assured you know where you are going." He paused and winced good-naturedly. "You have excellent contacts upstairs. I managed to piss off most of my superiors with this. I apologize again."

She smiled politely as the doors closed. She didn't have time for bumbling newbies. For some reason it was imperative for her to reach Hilde as soon as possible. The elevator door slid soundlessly open, giving her a view of the visitor's lobby. Hilde was on the far side, arguing with a harried military receptionist. Her friend's arms wove more and more agitated as the seconds progressed, and as Relena walked closer, she could hear snippets of conversation.

"Five days…" Hilde became more agitated, her serene face becoming dangerously close to homicidal. Relena recognized the desperation in her stance. The receptionist calmly murmured something to the raven-haired woman, and immediately took a step back as Hilde's swing went wide. Relena stepped in and grabbed Hilde's arm before she could try again.

"Whoa, calm down. I think Duo would rather be here to witness you beat someone up instead of hearing about it." Relena worried she said the wrong thing for a second when Hilde pointed her searing gaze at her.

"Yeah." Hilde muttered, moods swinging quicker than a pregnant woman's. Her eyes saddened, becoming teary. Personally, Relena would rather deal with the anger. "He was a pervert, wasn't he?" She wiped at her eyes with a cotton sleeve. The receptionist quickly scuttled off in a rushed survival instinct. Relena placed her arms around Hilde in a loose hug, knowing that nothing could rightly calm a person's sorrow for a missing loved one.

"What happened to him? Was there an accident?"

"It was just a routine check of the inner-colony. The pipes and electronics… you know, the stuff most people never see…" She broke off to blow her nose. "A team went down with experts to check on a report of faulty wiring…" A loud sniff. "Or maybe Heero was the expert, you know, after he finished his engineering at NovU, they've been using him for a lot of stuff like that. He's like a one-man team of twenty."

In fact, she hadn't known that. Heero wasn't open with his assignments, and it always seemed too easy to her to access his file from her office at UPH (Unified Preventor Headquarters). Maybe he just assumed she did look. She almost snorted out loud, which would have ruined the comforting atmosphere she was trying to create for Hilde. Who was she kidding; Heero knew everything from what she ate for breakfast to her underwear material and color. Especially her underwear material and color. The two of them were building up a nice case of UST. She made the required noises for Hilde to continue on.

"They hit some kind of snag. Personally…" She breathed heavily, sniffed, and then gave a weak little cough. "… I think it was some kind of bomb threat or something equally as overdone." Hilde paused, Relena could feel her withdrawing. That was interesting. "So Duo and Heero split up and send the rest of the team to the surface. Heero shows up at the rendezvous point, Duo doesn't." The next sentence came out in a blubbering rush. "Heero went back in to find him, but it's been five days and nothing."

That admission wasn't something she could answer with a noncommittal grunt. How could she answer that, when the fact Heero made it and Duo didn't thickened the air with animosity? She couldn't just say that Heero was the best. She also couldn't suggest that maybe Duo got lost, because that still implied Heero's superiority. "Maybe Duo found something interesting and is currently investigating undercover so as not to show he's close to cracking the case."

Score one for late-night mystery marathons and best-selling fiction.

Hilde looked unimpressed, but nodded her head anyway.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't we go up to my office, where I'm sure there is a nice couch, and you can rest while I talk to Lady Une? I'll grill her for details. And if that doesn't work we'll just have to hack into the computer and pull the file." Hilde started crying again at the word 'hack.' Relena supposed she could see the connection and led her sobbing friend towards the elevator. She hoped she could remember what floor her office was on. Another colony, another office in UPH. It was a convenient arrangement since she was a transient at best.

She found her office right where she left it. With a handy little swipe of her middle finger (apt) over the sensory pad, she unlocked the door and stepped in. She practically dragged a hysterical Hilde ("But what if Duo comes in and I miiiiiiiiss him?") over to the couch. Relena paused for a second, wondering if she should administer a sleep-dose to Hilde. Knowing personally how much the pilots were against artificial aid of any kind, she left Hilde without one. It was best not to alienate your only friend.

She did lock the door from the outside. A near-hysterical woman was not something she could handle with her current mission. She was sure Lady Une was somewhere in this building. Unless there was a major catastrophic event going on somewhere, the former colonel would be drawn to a blotched upper-level mission.

The elevator went up four levels and over three blocks. She took a deep breath, not sure if she wanted the answers to her questions. Hilde had implied that this whole situation could be her fault. Ever since those bastards had promised a hundred million for anyone who managed to take her life a few years back, loonies were popping out of the metalwork trying to get a piece. She wasn't sure if the contract still stood, but at least it hadn't been fulfilled yet.

The elevator doors opened smoothly and quietly. The noise from Lady Une's office was not so inaudible.

"I don't care where the hell she is or who the fuck she's talking to. Get me Lady Une now. I'm going back down without her permission."

Relena hurried into the receptionist area. The poor Preventor secretaries were being totally harassed today. She knew that obscenity-spouting voice anywhere. The door opened dramatically to show Heero about to toss a desk out the window.

It was hot, in a 'if a penny tossed off a sky-scraper could kill someone, what would a desk do?' kind of way.

"Put the desk down." She felt like she was talking to a kid. Seriously, was the whole universe regressing and suddenly she became mom? She almost expecting Heero to pout and petulantly question her motives. He didn't. He also didn't move the desk. The receptionist skittered out the room behind her and dove at the closing elevator.

Relena turned back to give her attention to Heero, but he was no longer there. Thankfully the desk and the window pane were. "Hee…oomph."

His lips slanted against hers. His tongue pushed violently into her mouth before she could close it from the attempted conversation. His hand possessively slid up her hip and inside the flimsy little nighty she was wearing. She was suddenly very glad she wasn't wearing a bra.

Heero cut off the kiss as suddenly as he had cut it on. They were both breathing heavily, but there was a slight rasp of desperation in his. Heero's fist balled and he drove it through the wall next to her head. Any and all sexual thoughts were driven from Relena's head as if he had personally struck her.

Somehow, in his own way, he was hurting, and was using her as a distraction. Not that she minded. It was not like they were having random rebound sex or anything. It was not as if they were having sex at all, though granted his hand was still on her breast, so maybe that would come later.

"Are you ok?" She slid their embrace into a hug. It was amazing sometimes that a man like Heero could be hugged. He was solid and didn't faze easily.

He remained uncomfortably silent for so long, she was sure this was one of those times he just wasn't going to answer her. He probably figured he couldn't get out of this one without admitting he was upset. "I now understand the meaning of the term friend."

Relena almost smiled. There it was. He was admitting to her that he was distressed about Duo. She would have done a happy dance at getting him to open up, but it wouldn't be prudent to do so at this exact time. She'd save that for later.

"He was my friend." Heero intoned. "And I couldn't bring him back."

Relena was suddenly hit with Heero's sorrow as if it was traveling to her via osmosis. In the back of her mind, she always believed Heero would do something, and Duo would be ok. She had deliberately tried to keep her thoughts light all evening, and now the dam broke.

Surprisingly Heero didn't run away in fear as she sobbed against his chest. He held her solidly, rubbing her back in fleeting caresses. "It's ok to cry." She blubbered, trying to justify it for herself as well as give him permission to join. Heero was never that good at taking what she offered.

"Yeah." His voice was rough. When she settled enough he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It tasted like the salt from her tears, and served the purpose of putting a balm of comfort over both their emotions.

The alarm on his watch went off, and he stared at the tiny code flashing across the screen. His face became impassive. A closed book. So clichély Heero. "Duo just walked in the front door. Cocky bastard."

She grinned a watery grimace and tried valiantly to wipe the tears off her face. Sharing time was over. He probably wouldn't take too kindly to tears anymore.

Instead of leaving her, he backed her up against the wrecked wall. His eyes seared into her face in what she could only describe as a leer. "I like it when you wear this to bed." His fingers played with the lace at the low neckline of her make-shift top. Oh yeah, definitely a leer.

©RelenaFanel2004


	5. KISSI

_K-I-S-S-I-_

Relena braced her slim arm on the mock wood of her office desk, delicately covering her mouth to hide a yawn. She shook a biodegradable coffee mug, wondering if the cold lumpy dregs glued to the bottom were safe for consumption. She had missed dinner, and going by the time on her clock, she was also going to miss supper. Tossing the coffee in the trash, she grabbed her cream-colored suit jacket and purse, intent on making it to the Preventor's cafeteria before the hot meal section closed. She was sick of living off caffeine and muffins.

"Foreign Minister Dorlian!"

Relena paused mid-stride to the elevator. She turned quickly, feeling the severe bun coiled on her head shift a bit. Her young assistant gathered papers spewing from the 'link and tried to keep them in order while getting her attention. "The Vice Foreign Minister just sent over the union contract for you to sign."

She gave a rueful grin. When she was the Vice Foreign Minister she didn't think she could be any more overworked, and her superior had the easy job. She was wrong. Relena had a sneaky suspicion she'd be overworked no matter what job she engaged in. She was an overachiever. Her assistant probably expected her to rush back into her office and wait for the contract, pour over the syntax of it for a few hours and either send it back for rewriting, or sign it.

"I'll look over it later. Just leave it on my desk." She jabbed at the elevator button, catching a glimpse of her assistant and secretary exchanging bemused glances. Part of her wanted to grin at the fact she did something unexpected, but an other part of her berated herself for how predictable her life had become.

The phone rang just as the elevator doors dinged open. She practically dived through the door before she got caught taking another technical call. "The caller ID says 'D Maxwell.'" Her secretary managed to call out as the elevator doors whooshed shut. Relena's head fell against the elevator paneling in defeat and she pressed the open button.

"I'll take the call in my office." Relena stated, seeking eye contact with her employees as she stepped off the elevator. Her secretary nodded enthusiastically and started punching buttons to direct the call. Relena gritted her teeth, reminding herself it wasn't prudent to fire someone just because they were cheerful. The personal assistant had his back to her, stapling papers neatly together as if nothing happened.

She was definitely nothing if not predicable. She shut the door to her office quietly, despite the fact she wanted to slam it. The last time she had given into the urge to take her anger out on the door, the media had been spouting about her tantrum for weeks. Crossing the carpet padding, she pressed the on button to her vid-link and efficiently removed her arms from the jacket. "Relena here."

"Rel! I was worried you would be eating. How's life?"

Relena kicked off her shoes, getting ready to be comfortable for whatever Hilde was going to spring on her after the niceties were through. "Good. How are you and Duo?"

"We're fine. How's Heero?" Hilde looked smug. Relena wondered if she knew about Heero's visit last week.

"Alive, as far as I know."

"Good." Hilde paused for a second, listening to something being broadcast on a PA system behind her. "Listen. Duo and I are about five minutes away from L1. Are you free for supper?" Hilde giggled as Duo leaned in and whispered something in her ear, keeping his nose pressed in her hair a few more moments than necessary. Relena felt a pang of jealousy at how natural the two of them were together. Duo didn't and would never think twice before showing affection to someone he loved.

"Yes." Relena grabbed her hand-link, scanning through the restaurants available on this colony. "Where did you want to eat? There's a nice Chinese restaurant a few blocks from the shuttle landing."

Hilde's smiling countenance froze for a moment. Relena would have written it off as a blip in the technology if Duo's whispering voice hadn't echoed through the machine. "She doesn't know yet?"

Relena frowned at the couple. Hilde lightly smacked Duo's arm as he looked sheepish. "What don't I know?" The couple looked at each other, deliberating who would tell her. By the time Hilde opened her mouth Relena had already accessed the appropriate files on her computer. "When do you leave?"

There was a brief scrapple on the other side of the 'link as Duo grabbed it from Hilde's hand. His voice transferred through moments before his head popped into her line of sight. "I don't know yet. Heero and I will find out at the meeting in two hours." Duo eyed her wearily, wondering if she already knew the particulars of this newest mission.

Relena simply smiled at him, knowing it didn't reach her eyes.

"The shuttle's about to land, Rel. We'll take care of getting supper, you get the seats." Duo blinked off the screen. Relena bit into her lip to fight off all impending emotional reactions as she turned off the videolink. She almost had herself convinced the tears in her eyes were from the pain of teeth on fragile flesh and not the fact Heero was going on another undercover mission.

She hated undercover missions. Defiantly she stared at the mission specifications on her computer before jamming the off button. She knew that come tomorrow she'd read it so often it would be memorized within the week. Just as she knew the words 'Estimated Mission Length: 12 Months' would be branded on her mind for the rest of the evening. Who was she kidding? For the rest of the year.

She took a moment to let the grief wash over her. As were all of Heero's missions, this one was classified suicidal, and despite his obvious aptitude for staying alive, everyone knew death would one day catch up with the perfect soldier. She didn't let herself cry, knowing Duo and Hilde would recognize the symptoms immediately. Compared to their close bond, she had no right to shed a tear. Whimpering in self-pity, she slid her fingers into her hair, unmindful of the pins holding it up. When half of the locks tumbled down she simply took the pins out instead of painstakingly putting it back up.

She loudly exhaled, letting the air brush her hair back from her face before sliding to her feet. Once again she grabbed her purse and stepped from her private office.

"Ambassador Shirreff is on line one." Her secretary called out as Relena strode by, deliberately ignoring her.

"The contract is ready for you to sign now." The assistant stumbled out of her way in the hall and tripped over his shoelace. Official papers scattered everywhere, ripping and crumpling from the force of the fall. Relena stopped for a moment, her innate caring personality not allowing her to ignore someone falling at her feet. He absentmindedly waved her on, grasping at the papers as if they were a precious commodity. "The contract will be ready to sign when you come back."

The elevator doors zipped open, and Relena paused for a second before stepping in. "I won't be coming back tonight," a mischievous smile played on her lips as she watched her employees gawk before the door closed.

Within seconds the elevator stopped its descent and she stepped out on the first floor. With purposeful strides she turned right in the airy lobby and skirted a few potted trees on her way to the cafeteria. Despite the fact supper was over, the room was packed with stragglers. She picked the closest poor unsuspecting fool and towered over him.

"I'm procuring this table. Business. You understand." Relena smiled tightly, pulling off the whole effect of a harried businesswoman. The lowly technician goggled at her, either star-struck or in shock at her command.

"You're kidding, right?" He laughed nervously, shielding the papers on his table from her sight.

Relena stared at him, hard. Within seconds he had packed up and was scurrying out of the room. The men at the next table saluted her as she gingerly wiped off a seat and sat down. She sloppily saluted them back and smiled sassily. They all grinned back foolishly, one of them breaking out in chuckles.

"Wait until you catch a whiff of this Chinese food!" Duo exclaimed as he dropped the boxes on the table, jamming himself bodily into the space between her and the next table. "I've been drooling like an idiot for the past five minutes."

"You're always drooling like an idiot." Hilde shot back, unable to resist that easy dig as she grabbed the seat next to Relena and leaned over so Duo couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. "Bad Relena. You were flirting with those space-men."

Relena raised an eyebrow. "So?"

Hilde frowned, not expecting her to agree. "So?! What about Heer… Yeah, they are pretty cute, aren't they?"

"What are you whispering about?" Duo gasped and pointed at Hilde. "You promised you wouldn't tell about the time I went to the dentist and came back with a drool stain on my shirt!"

Relena stared at him for a second then started chuckling. Duo handed her a box of beef-fried rice.

"Right. I forgot about that!" Hilde snorted. "You wet the pillow so often I'm almost used to it." At that moment Duo dripped plum sauce down his shirt. He picked up the hem and started sucking at the offending stain.

"I do not! Maybe the drool is yours." Duo snatched one of Hilde's eggrolls and bit into it. "Ever think of that?"

Relena's chuckle turned into cackling. She threw back her head in merriment, the amusement borderlining on being faked. This impending mission could be it for Duo and Hilde. It was a realization anyone close to a Preventor went through on the eve of an impending mission. They were all fighting to maintain peace for the people, but she couldn't help but feel it was ultimately for her. Every time she sat at this table and sent her friends off a piece of her wondered: Would she loose everything she worked so hard to attain? Would she loose her friends? Her family? Peace?

"Don't strain yourself." A voice stated into her ear at the exact moment cool fingers pressed lightly on the base of her neck. Relena's shocked gasp came out as a loud snort as she cut her laughter short and tried to inhale through her mouth. Embarrassed, she slammed her hand over her mouth to try to stifle any other wayward noises.

"Hey Heero!" Duo gestured emphatically with his chopsticks, grains of rice skittered over the surface of the table, and clung to every textured surface. Hilde flicked her napkin, causing a few grains to fly into the crowd gathered at the next table over. Relena gave her head a sharp shake, hoping to dislodge any that may have adhered to her hair as Duo continued on with his enthusiastic greeting, completely oblivious to the mess he caused. "Grab some GunPao… der Chicken… uh, KungFu Chicken." He paused his massacre of Americanized Chinese names, wondering if it actually was chicken in the small box. "Have some Chinese food!"

Heero grabbed the box and sniffed it distastefully. With a flick of his wrist chopsticks magically appeared in his hand and he violently speared one of the strips of meat. It dangled precariously on the tip of the chopsticks much like a body would on the point of Wing's shield. That was nearly her fate, Relena realized, no longer hungry. Heero could have looked at her impaled body with the same closed-feature distain he was projecting towards the chicken.

"Is that all I am to you?" She burst out dramatically, not quite thinking rationally once her brain connected the two unrelated pieces of information together. "A piece of chicken?"

For his part Heero only slightly frowned his impassive blue eyes.

Relena moved to stab him with her chopsticks, thinking at least he'd know what it felt like to be the chicken for once. On the second stab she realized her hands were depressingly empty of all things sharp and pointy. Nonplussed, Heero shoved the chicken in his mouth. Relena glared at the chopsticks, then at his mouth. Of course he hadn't conjured the utensil up magically, he had surreptitiously stolen hers.

"I'd say she's more of a quack." Duo hadn't even managed to finish his sentence. Hilde's elbow rammed harshly into his ribs. More rice rained than on a wedding day.

"You are being illogical." Heero crammed another piece of chicken into his mouth, turning his full attention back on Relena. "I'd never eat you." He continued frankly.

"Unless you wanted him to." Duo piped up from across the table, grinning in the hope that he had made Heero or Relena uncomfortable. Hilde swatted his arm lightly, not wanting it to rain rice again.

"Yeah." Heero continued, shocking them all into silence at the mischievous gleam that suddenly appeared in his eyes. "Unless you want me to."

Relena, realizing the chicken analogy had to be one of the stupidest things she had ever thought up, grappled for an explanation for the whole ordeal or a competent change of subject. Her desperately roaming eye made contact with one of the spaceboys from the next table over and he was out of his seat and striding towards her before she could discourage him.

"Miss Relena?"

She looked up, unsuccessfully feigning a pleased smile. The first thing she noticed was he had a piece of Duo's projectile rice dangling from his eyebrow. "Why…" She glanced quickly at the rank insignia on his uniform, "… Captain. How may I be of service?"

"I can think of a few ways!" One of his buddies called out from the neighboring table. They all giggled macholy.

The Captain had the good grace too appear embarrassed. He fiddled with a button on his uniform before blurting out, "Its Captain Feeney ma'am. Would you like to come sit with us? Despite what you think, my friends are harmless. They meant no offence."

"I'm sure they are. I never thought anything of it." Relena replied placating the poor nervous fool and eyeing Duo and Heero. "I hear jokes like that all the time." He looked at her hopefully, like a starving puppy begging for a table scrap. Relena hated turning away little puppies. "Sorry, but my friends and I are having a last supper before they leave on a mission tomorrow."

"You." The Captain pointed at Heero. The whole table blinked in unison. "Civilian consultant. Move over a seat so I can sit by Miss Relena. I have something important to tell her."

Heero shocked his friends by gazing mildly at the fool, then edging his chair over. Before anyone could think he acquiesced to an order by a lowly captain, he hooked his foot under Relena's chair and hauled her beside him. With a squeal, Relena toppled sideways, falling on a suspiciously smug Heero. She let herself drop, just as he left his arm around her waist after helping her sit up.

"Civilian consultant?" Hilde questioned, eyeing Heero's white dress shirt and jeans. She could see how it looked like an outfit a civilian consultant would wear. She was still holding her breath for Heero to pounce though.

"You had something to tell me?" Relena inquired politely, hoping no one noticed Heero's talented long fingers had inched between her no-nonsense skirt and the cream silk blouse tucked into it. He was appeased for the moment, but Relena was aware that if she didn't get rid of the Captain soon, Heero's strike would be swift and deadly.

Feeney squatted beside her, gently lifting her hand to his lips. "You have the most enchanting eyes. Would you do me the honor of eating supper with me tonight?"

Relena's eyes widened as Heero tensed beside her, his hand painfully digging into her hip. She had tried to wean herself out of a bad situation and managed to land in a worse one.

"You will not proposition her." Heero's voice was void of emotions. The cold impersonality of it was far more threatening than fury to anyone with half a brain.

The halfwit still holding Relena's hand must have had the wrong half of a brain, for he gazed at Heero with emotion akin to distain. "Do not presume to tell your commanding officer what he can or cannot do. Just because you're a friend of Relena's, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you during this mission."

Everyone at the table held their breath. Duo turned a nice shade of puce. Hilde mouthed 'oh boy.' Heero was probably reciting every line in the rule book telling him not to hit a fellow officer looking for loopholes. Relena tried not to focus on the grain of rice dangling from Feeney's eyebrow, but it was getting more distracting by the second. She just smiled politely, feigning ignorance about the whole mission as she swiveled her hip a bit to comfort Heero. "Are you the commanding officer of this mission Captain? That's quite an accomplishment for someone as young as you."

Ok, she was baiting him. But only a little.

The Captain snorted. "No. The '_great_' Colonel Yuy is our leader."

"You don't think he's great?" Hilde asked innocently. She turned her limpid blue eyes on her unsuspecting victim. "I hear he's a real slave driver."

The Captain snorted again. "I here he's some doddering old relic left over from the war." So puffed up on his own importance, the Captain failed to realize how tense everyone at the table became, nor the looks exchanged between them.

"Oh. You've never met him then? I think the Colonel would definitely like to kick your ass if he heard he was a relic." Duo put in his two cents worth, fully enjoying provoking both the Captain and Heero.

"That's not all he'd like to do to it." The Captain leaned over to conspire with them. "He's gay!" The Captain giggled. "He'd probably make us drop trousers for target practice. If ya know what I mean?"

"I'm afraid I don't, Mr. Feeney." Relena replied coolly, nestling closer to Heero.

"AHha!" Duo pointed at Heero. "I forgot about that time in the bordello…" He trailed off as an ensign stopped beside Heero and saluted.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your supper sir. Madam Foreign Minister." She nodded respectfully to Relena.

"At ease ensign." Captain Feeney wove the young lady in uniform off, seeing himself as the only man of importance at the table. "You remind me of all the posturing I had to do before rising in the ranks."

"I'm sorry sir." A frown marred her brow as she tried to remain obeisant. "I cannot answer to…"

"That's fine LeBlanc. At ease." Heero continued, effortlessly making the command personal by remembering her name.

"Lady Une requests your presence in her office, sir."

"No. Dismissed ensign." Heero's commands never booked any room for arguments, but the girl held her ground despite the order. Heero eyed her impassively.

"But Colonel Yuy, sir." Still hovering beside Relena, the Captain goggled as this new piece of information processed in his dull brain. The ensign continued on bravely, probably endearing herself to Heero for standing her ground. "It's an order."

"Very well then. Note that I want Captain Feeney transferred to my quadrant." His smile was feral, enjoying his revenge. "I believe he needs experience in the field." Heero very obviously removed his hand from within her skirt, lightly trailing his fingers up the smooth material on her arm as he drew her closer to him. Relena stared up at him, watching with bemusement as he focused on her mouth mere seconds before kissing her. So soon after he was accused of being gay, Relena expecting his kiss to be domineering and sexual, instead it was light and sweet, with just a hint of promise. There was no manly posturing in his kiss, but he still managed to get his claim over her across to the many people witnessing it.

She was his, and always his.

"Wait up for me?" He whispered against her mouth, just loud enough so the neared voyeurs could catch the sound of his voice. This was Heero defending his masculinity. She nodded anyway. This moment, this night, this mission could be it.

He snapped to his feet, looking every inch the ruthless soldier. He only moved a few meters before pivoting back to the table and grabbing his unfinished supper. He stared down at Relena meaningfully for a moment before popping a cold piece in his mouth and holding it between his teeth as he murmured, "I have a fondness for chicken."

©RelenaFanel2005  



	6. KISSIN

K-I-S-S-I-N

Relena rubbed her arms briefly for warmth, trying to send a subtle message to her personal assistant to remove herself from between the air conditioning control and the freezing Foreign Minister. Either Relena wasn't as good as she thought at conveying herself through body language, or her newest secretary was oblivious, because Relena was still cold and the assistant was still droning on about the public appearances to be made before the end of the day.

"I thought I was done." Relena told the woman wearily, mentally thinking of ways to shift her on top of the off button for the air conditioning. Or maybe Relena could just bolt on the next red light; better yet, she could push the offensive woman out the door and drive off. "Look. Miss Butling…"

"Butler."

"Right. Butler. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather go back to my hotel and get a good night's rest." Relena ignored the woman narrowing her eyes. She really didn't care if another person thought she was a spoiled princess. The assistant had woken her fourteen hours ago, and since then they hadn't stopped moving. The only difference was that Relena would have to get out of the limo and give a long involved speech to the press at every stop, and the secretary would stay in the car and buddy up with the driver. Relena could practically feel the heat seeping out of her body as it quickly shut down for sleep. If she didn't lie down now, she was going to fall over.

"No. You still have to go hospital to visit a dying man." Butler passed over a file folder. "The stats just came in on your last campaign stop. The young man is one of the surviving victims of that new radioactive chemical explosion that happened on Jupiter's second moon. Apparently he's a big fan of yours."

"Everyone is a big fan of mine. I was just at the hospital this morning to cut the ribbon for the new wing. I don't appreciate making another trip." As soon as she said it, Relena could feel the guilt seeping into her kind conscience. What kind of Peacecraft was she if she couldn't take a moment from her day to visit a dying man? A Milliardo Peacecraft, that's what. Since she didn't want to end up like her miserly brother, she turned on her best smile and nodded to her secretary. "Of course, I understand that if his conditioned worsened over the day, that it would be prudent for me to quickly drop in. What kind of fan is he?"

The assistant looked relieved that Relena had decided to forsake sleep for another thirty minutes and handed the FM a cold glass of water. Relena, for her part, felt like pouring the water over Butler's skirt, then firing her for having an 'accident' in her limo.

"Do you find it chilly in here?" The blond princess questioned, placing the glass out of reach without taking a drink. She figured she'd take the subtleness to the next level of obvious.

"Not really." The assistant took a sip of her own glass of water before continuing. "The young man's name is Jerrod Curtis. His girlfriend said he's the reason so many people survived."

"So she wants me to visit her hero then?" Relena asked, pulling her suit jacket tighter across her chest.

"That hasn't been verified. The girlfriend is not the one who called us. Apparently the guy only said one word before slipping into a coma and the nurses called Lady Une, who in turn authorized your visit."

Relena thought she had been cold before, but now her body was completely chilled inside and out. Lady Une wouldn't authorize her to visit just anyone.

"I bet you can guess what one word he said."

"Could you turn on the heat?" Relena could feel herself shaking. She hadn't checked this morning. Every single morning she woke up and checked Heero's mission status; he was always on active duty, but she hadn't checked this morning. This morning she had been woken up at six by her enthusiastic new assistant.

"But Miss Dorlain, we're here."

"Just turn. It. On. Bunting." Relena growled through clenched teeth.

"Butler!" The secretary screeched, flinging her glass of water at Relena. "You are the worst, most spoiled employer I have ever had… and I'm not voting for you."

Relena sat, unmoving, on her leather seat. Water dripped from her nose to her toes and most places in between. "I'm moved to tears." She replied monotonously. "You're fired." She almost expected the other woman to yell something cliché like 'you can't fire me, I quit!' but instead Butler started to cry. Feeling uncharitable, Relena stepped out of the limo, forcibly yanking her skirt down from where it wetly clung to her nylons like sticky-tack to a wall. Luckily, the press wasn't around to snap pictures of the drenched politician.

Who knew such a small glass of water could be so wet?

A few medical staff and visitors noticed Relena's bedraggled state, but most of the people in the hospital were too entrenched in their own lives to notice. Not many patients walked out of this hospital alive, and the healthy visitors were here to mourn the eminent passing of their kin. Relena sidled up to the front desk. For a moment the burly woman manning the area didn't notice her.

"Name?" The receptionist asked, not looking up from her computer. Her brow was clenched Neanderthalically over beady eyes.

"I'm looking for Jerrod Curtis." This whole hospital made Relena nervous. It wasn't just because the receptionist looked like she had a vampire forehead. She had prior history in this place.

"Name?" The receptionist asked again, in exactly the same tone. Relena had to look carefully to make sure she wasn't a droid. Why anyone would make a robot that ugly was beyond her.

"Me?" She giggled anxiously. "Relena. Relena Dorlain."

This time the receptionist did look up. "Well, well. Our returning celebrity. We've been expecting you." She handed Relena a visitor pass. "Third floor. Room 329."

Relena nodded her thanks, despite the fact the receptionist had already turned her attention back to the computer, and headed towards the elevator. The elevator stopped on the second floor and two paramedics wheeled in a gurney with a body-shaped lump covered in a sheet.

"Freight elevator is broken." One of the men muttered apologetically.

"Say." The other one broke in. "Do you want her clothes? She won't need them anymore."

"Uh." Relena replied, wondering why the elevator was taking so long to raise a floor. The doors parted like the Red Sea, and Relena squeezed through them before they opened all the way.

"I was only joking," paramedic number two muttered as the blond hurried down the hall.

Relena stopped in front of room 329, palms sweating and heart racing. Taking a deep breath which did nothing to calm her nerves, she twisted the door knob and stepped into a dim room. She found herself in a small observation room, with a wall made completely of glass. This meant the patient was in containment so nothing could be passed to or from him. She'd seen a room like this before. Still not exhaling her breath, she crossed the small distance to the glass and placed a hand against the cool surface. The room may have been badly lit and depressing, but she would know the man behind that glass anywhere.

She had come as a courtesy to visit a dying hero, but had instead found her Heero dying.

Stifling a cry, she let herself drop like a drug user's grades into a nearby chair. She wanted to beat at the glass with her fists; to feel the pain of flesh breaking glass, and maybe to wake her sleeping prince out of his coma. If she could only touch him and hold him close, maybe everything would be alright. Maybe he wouldn't see it necessary to dedicate his life to completing high-risk assignments and would just spend the rest of his life with her. Maybe he'd realize how precious his life was, and that there was no point in wasting it anymore. Maybe she'd sprout scales and a tail and become a mermaid.

Maybe Heero wouldn't die like the other 99.9 of the patients in this hospital.

Personal waterfalls of tears trickled down her cheeks. Furiously, she wiped them off with the back of her hand, knowing that he wouldn't condone her tears yet. "You can't die. We've come so far. There's still so much we…" Her voice cracked. Relena had to lift her hand over her mouth to stifle wayward noises.

"Horrifying site, isn't he?" Relena jumped, turning bodily to face the dark haired woman lounging against the doorframe. "I understand your tears. If you're crying, you don't want to throw up as much." The other female paused at the edge of the glass divider and looked in at Heero, her lip curled in such a way that would make even the most hard-core Elvis impersonator proud. "No one around here thought you'd visit some unknown hero. But I guess you aren't as cold as you seem on TV."

Indeed.

The woman continued, oblivious to the insult she just drilled at Relena. "Jerrod's got this secret thing for you. He had this article cut from a magazine on how to cook chicken teriyaki, and on the other side was a picture of you. He always had it with him. Said he loved chicken." The lady shrugged. "No one loves chicken that much."

Relena blinked at the woman. She was having extreme difficulties keeping her tears at bay. Hopefully she had taken a lesson or five from Heero in the art of expressionlessism. Here was Heero's girlfriend. For the past four months he had spent time in the company of this other female. He talked to this woman. He smiled and held her. He had sex with this stranger? Relena felt betrayed, but a little nagging question formed in her mind. Was he happy? What did it take to make him happy?

Obviously not her.

"What…" Relena's throat constricted, causing her carefully controlled voice to crack. She switched gears in the hope she wouldn't break down sobbing. Heero had cheated on her. She thought they had an _understanding._ "I'm sorry; I didn't get your name."

"Karyline."

"Ah." Relena nodded, her hair falling to cover her face. She didn't dare move it until she asked her next question. She didn't have Heero's rigid control. "What is he like?"

"Jerrod?" A dreamy look came over Karyline's face. "Oh. He was so handsome. He just had this strength to him. You know. I think that's what first drew me to him. That and his eyes. They're the deepest blue you've ever seen. He's shy though. And he pretends he doesn't want to have me around sometimes." The woman leaned in towards Relena. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell the nurses?"

Relena wasn't sure what it was about total strangers immediately trusting her. She must have a reputation for being the only trustworthy politician, or maybe it was her innocent looks. Whatever it was, the last thing she wanted to do was keep a secret for Heero's little plaything. Relena nodded her assent and for one of the first times in her life she had no moral qualms about breaking her word. Jealousy was a dangerous thing. "Mum's the word."

"Well, I'm not really Jerrod's girlfriend. They wouldn't let me in unless I was some relation." Karyline frowned as Relena expelled a relieved sigh. The other woman must have taken Relena's thankful expelling of air as disapproval, for she hurried on with her explanation. "He would have though. He said he had someone already, but he never talked about her. I think he was getting over a bad breakup. All we needed was a bit more time." Karyline placed her hand against the glass divider, curling her fingers as if she was trying to grasp something just out of her reach. "We'll never have that now."

Just like that, Relena's overwhelming jealousy turned to pity. She could understand this mindset. She had chased after Heero for months, but the difference was that he had started to chase her in retaliation. Really, she should say something to comfort the other woman. Something like better luck next time; you're delusional; or her personal favourite, Heero's mine. Go find yourself a man who doesn't like chicken! Instead, she settled for, "Have faith in him."

It was a motto to live by. And Heero wasn't cheating on her, so it was one she was keeping.

A knock sounded on the door. Karyline jerked her hand away from the glass as if it was molten. A short woman walked in the room and pointed to the startled woman. "You out."

Kary turned to Relena and pointed back at the doctor with her thumb. "She doesn't like me."

Relena raised her eyebrows at Karyline's audacity. She wouldn't like anyone who treated her like that either. This woman who claimed Heero as her own seemed to have major social issues. For someone of Relena's stature, who had been educated in the art of etiquette, it was impossible to imagine herself in this position. She didn't have as much in common with Kary as she had thought.

"Why don't you get some coffee?" The doctor asked, scrubbing a hand over her forehead while staring down the cheeky little man-stealer. "I need to talk to Miss Dorlian for a minute."

Kary shot Relena a look of pure venom before turning towards the door. "Sure. Would either of you like some?"

"No thank you." Relena responded, trying to smile in the face of the woman's hate and distrust.

"Fine." Kary looked directly at the doctor, locking Relena's dislike for her firmly in place. "Don't tell her anything confidential. Remember, I'm first of kin."

The door slammed.

Relena and the physician eyed each other without speaking for an uncomfortable moment.

"We've had problems with her since the beginning." The doctor took a keychain off her belt loop, shaking her head as if she could control everyone who walked in and out of the doors in her ward. "I'm Dr. Stovelnate." She extended her hand to Relena.

Relena grasped the doctor's hand. "I recognize you. You saved my life."

The doctor gave a quick laugh. "You brought down our death rate by 2.4 percent that year. Some of me coworkers won't let me forget that. You weren't supposed to live."

Relena pursed her lips, turning away from Dr. Stovelnate. She couldn't help but stare beyond the glass at Heero laying motionlessly on the stark sheets. Heero had held a gun on the entire hospital personnel and made them try the precarious operation on her heart again. He had never left her side. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again, and she had to force herself to swallow down the lump in her throat. "You were coerced."

The physician placed a hand on Relena's shoulder. "I didn't recognize him at first. Which was weird. I thought I'd know the man who shot my coworker in the foot. Your friend Duo wasn't sure it was him either." She took the keys in her hand and opened the door. It soundlessly inched open, spilling harsh light into the dim chamber Heero occupied. "Brace yourself." The doctor finished, edging Relena into the room in front of her.

Relena barely heard her. She kept thinking about Duo not identifying Heero. That scared Relena more than anything. How injured would Heero have to be for Duo not to recognize his face? All this time, she had been so confident everyone was over reacting, and eventually Heero would come out of his coma and be his regular staunchly, callous self. He had so often in the past, it was slowly dawning on her that she had placed far too much faith on Heero's self-rejuvenation talents. He had never looked as mortal as he did in this moment as she stood on the brink of his hospital bedroom, noticing for the first time that what she had previously taken for blankets were actually wrapped bandages which enveloped his body like a second layer of epithelial. "Heero," She whispered, taking a baby step forward as her breath came in choppy bursts.

Her heels clicked sharply on the austere hospital tiles, betraying her hesitancy to reach his bedside. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that this was the man she loved. Duo might have trouble recognizing this faceless man, but Relena knew his sheer presence better than she knew her own face. A stranger wouldn't make her feel so calm and safe, yet excited and intoxicated at the same time. She placed a hand on the bedside rail to steady herself as her other fragile limb reached towards his shoulder. She paused before making contact, turning towards the doctor standing impassively in the doorway. Dr. Stovelnate nodded, urging her to continue. "Most of his nerves are dead. He won't feel the pain."

She felt herself nod in response. Her hand connected solidly with his shoulder, and she left it gently resting there as a bridge between the two of them.

The doctor moved away from the door and opened up a closet next to the doorway to the bathroom. She hauled out a small brightly wrapped box. "I almost forgot about this. Major Maxwell asked that I give it to you the last time he was here." She handed Relena the gift. "He said it's a just-in-case present and that you'd know what it meant."

Relena's head bobbled in assent. Duo had always bought Hilde a little token of his affection before going on a life-threatening mission so she would know he was always thinking of her. Just in case he died. Heero had the unforgiving task of looking after the gift and presenting it to the bereaving girlfriend. As far as Relena knew, Heero had never reciprocated and gave her a present in care of Duo before. She cupped the small box in her hand, weighing and coddling it as if it were the most valuable thing in the world. And to her it was.

Reluctantly she stuffed it into the pocket of her pants, taking all her willpower not to rip it open and see what Heero could possible buy her. Maybe it was those sweet earrings she had liked at the mall, or the key to a security box where she'd find a teddy bear. That was just like him. She _had_ to know if she'd end up opening it before the day was out. "Is it…" Her voice broke again. Collecting her willpower, she inhaled sharply. It was almost sacrilegious to show weakness in his presence. "Is it possible for someone to recover from something like this?"

Relena didn't turn to face the doctor again, not wanting to see the woman when she responded to the query. "The burned skin and nerves are the least of his problems. Those are fixed easily enough with a few operations and grafts. His body is currently battling toxins from the radioactive…"

"Is it possible, doctor?" Relena cut in sharply, her fingers unintentionally digging into Heero's charred flesh.

"He has less than one percent chance of surviving the night."

"Thank you." Relena said simply, dismissing the doctor from her presence. She leaned down towards Heero until her nose was practically touching his chest. She looked up at his face through her eyelashes in a stare which would have been labeled coy in other circumstances. As it was, it was the closest she could get to him without climbing on the bed. If it would be called a bed. It was more of a human mold to stop his limbs from healing together. She remained in that position even when her back screamed that she was abusing her poor muscles. If she looked from the right angle it appeared as if he were sleeping as she laid curled in his arms.

"Oh Heero." Her eyes welled up before she could gather the strength to stop them. A single tear fell on his chest. For a lone foolish moment she looked at his face hopefully, wishing that they truly lived in a fairytale world and a tear would be enough to wake her sleeping prince. Straightening her body, she closed her eyes and let the tears come. Instinctively her hand curled around his cloth-covered fingers. "I love you." She sobbed, feeling so lost and frustrated as her knees lost their rigidity and she sunk to the floor beside his prone body.

Relena wept, tears wetting her still-damp shirt. She had Heero's hand in a death-clamp, not willing to let go for the wealth of the world. Her small fingers barely encircled three of his larger digits, but still she barely noticed when they twitched on their own accord. Her sobs trailed off when she felt his hand make a fist around her fingers. With weary blood-shot eyes she looked at his face with hope. His features were harshly pinched even through the bandages, his mouth was pursed in pain and eyes were clenched shut. For the first time in her life Relena wished the mercy of death would swoop down and give him relief.

"I thought you said he wouldn't have any pain!" She shouted back at the doctor, unsure if the other woman had even stayed through her whole cry fest. Heero's entire body convulsed, arching off the strange bed and gripping her trapped hand with all his remaining force. Relena screamed sharply as the bones in her fingers shattered like pretzels.

"Remarkable." She heard the doctor exclaim from Heero's other side. She tapped the edge of a needle to check for air bubbles and inserted the sharp tip directly into the tubing of the IV. "This should put him back to sleep."

Relena nodded, keeping her hand within Heero's as her jaw tensed with the pain. She looked back at Heero's face, relieved to see the muscles relaxing. His eyelids opened slightly, the blue of his eyes more noticeable without the covering of lashes. He looked blankly at her, as if not seeing that she was standing by his side.

"Heero?"

He focused for one lucid second. "Mine," He barked out, yet it was only a whisper, deliberately tightening his hand around hers.

"Yours." She whispered through the pain and the tears. "Always." She leaned down and briefly kissed his forehead, filled with hope for his survival. His eyes fluttered closed, peacefully. Relena felt herself briefly smile for less than a moment, but it was quickly wiped from her face.

Instead of relaxing like he should, his entire body tensed into a rigid pole of taunt muscle. His heart monitor flat-lined.

The machine screamed as hands caught her from behind and ripped her bodily away from his side. It continued its grating sound as the doctor grabbed the defibrillator paddles and tried to shock the infallible gundam pilot back into life. Relena's fingers plopped from Heero's death-grip.

This was all her fault. She had wished he would die instead of living in pain.

The doctor reapplied the electric paddles as another prepared a needle used to jump-start the heart. Relena feared he was too injured for anything to work on him.

The heart machine continued screeching as someone continued to physically haul her from the room. Professionals scurried in from behind her, but Relena wouldn't move.

No matter what they did, the heart monitor didn't issue a distinctive beep. She barely heard the doctor state 'we lost him' as she reached over and turned off the machines Heero was hooked up to. The infernal screaming didn't stop, and Relena realized as she slid bonelessly down to the floor that it was coming from her own mouth.

"Time of death: seven-oh-nine pm."


	7. KISSING

Her hands felt as if she had revisited the Antarctic without gloves. Relena's long, aristocratic fingers curled around the solid, waxy grains of the carved wooden door. She remained frozen, watching as friends gathered in the hallway and made their way to random seats within the chamber. There they would bow their heads as if in prayer and murmur to each other, occasionally peeking toward the front of the room.

She didn't know what they had to pray about. Heero had already died.

He would see the irony, like she did, that he was never a religious man.

Frost.

The wintry coldness was resonating from within her. Never in her life had she felt the sharp twinge of frantic butterflies within her gut. She felt as if she could gag on them and vomit the blessed little food she had consumed in the days since Heero's death. She felt as though she couldn't escape the memory of him dying in front of her eyes. Every moment, it was there, mocking and haunting every tinted thought she could manage to concentrate on beyond the grief.

Ache.

She yearned for the idyllic days, months, years where Heero would pop up by her side at random intervals and save the day. A decade. She had never known exactly when the love of her life would grace her with his presence. Now she'd always know exactly where he was. He had always been a restless spirit. She could only hope he was prepared to be at rest.

The soporific music echoed through the gathering room. The dull whisper of voices grew silent, as everyone tensed, showing their respect with the set of their shoulders and the attention given to the beginning ceremony.

Relena went numb, clinging to the door for support. There was no air for her to breathe. She lowered her head, hair becoming a veil of remembrance. Respect. For life and for death. She didn't want to watch her future and her past meet in one moment of time. She didn't want the joy and pain his name brought her, or the bittersweetness of their intertwining fates.

"Are you ok?" A heavy hand alighted quietly on her shoulder. She almost jumped. Almost involuntarily moved. Was almost frightened out of her moment of self-pity.

Relena reined her emotions- her courage- and struck her brother with the brilliant blue of her willful and poignant eyes. "You're late." She grabbed his arm desperately, needing the contact with the last of her remaining family, and not caring if she wrinkled his dashing, foppish suit.

"As are you." He replied, gathering her close to him in a respiteful hug. She leaned into his strength, and Milliardo let himself be a supporting block for a moment before pulling away and tightening his grip on her arm. "We'll go in together."

She nodded crisply, glad he was able to put aside personal detestations in order to be here for her. Relena was his sister after all, and blood is thicker than De Nile. She tried to smile for him, to show that she was alright. Today, she wouldn't even be able to fool a blind stranger into thinking she had her act together.

Destiny.

"If you're scared, I'll stay with you tonight. You don't have to go through this alone, Relena."

She shook her head. The silk of her dress flowed against her legs like the breath of marvelous secrets. She concentrated on what she felt surrounding her, instead of the clash of feelings and wishes sloping within her heart. Lighting was dim and sparse. All eyes turned towards her, watching and waiting for her to betray her emotions. It was as if they were all waiting for her, and in the back of her mind, Relena realized that they were. Like a frightened child, she clung to her brother, wishing he could protect her from the prying eyes. "I don't understand."

"I know a good psychiatrist. She can talk you out of," he cleared his throat. "Guide you through this. I knew this was coming, and you did too. You don't have to love Heero."

But she did.

Heero's heart had stopped.

And now, she would join him.

Eternity.

"He's waiting for me." She whispered, tightening her grip on Milliardo's arm. The brother and sister pair halted at the front of the ceremony parlor. "My soul needs to be joined with his. Can't you understand?" Relena's crazed eyes turned upwards to meet his, blaring with determination and hope.

"No." Milliardo narrowed his eyes towards the man presented on the alter like the sacrificial lamb. The fact this would be the last time he was permitted to glare and mentally curse at his long-time foe hit him deep in the gut like lead bullet. It sickened him to know the hold this vile enemy had on his sister; even after death. He tried to appeal to her one last time- like a man about to be hanged for stealing a loaf of bread- but his frantic pleading fell on unhearing ears. "You're still so young."

Relena merely patted his hand, and took a step towards Heero.

Time stopped.

She looked at the calm features she had watched die last week. His face looked so relaxed- almost childlike in its peace- but even when she had met him when they were practically children, he had never been innocent or serene enough to be young. Heero's strong, thick eyebrows were heavy slashes on his pale face. His eyes were closed in relief. The pallor of his skin was flawless and new. It had taken a lot of work to prepare him for this day. His body was tense and lean, as if waiting to spring and bolt, but also reminding her of the rigidness of rigor mortis.

He was still beautiful.

Relena felt tears well up in her eyes. She reached out a hand towards him, a mournful sigh tearing out of her throat before she could swallow it. What could have been, what her future almost was, weighed down on her shoulders and in the minds of everyone in the room.

Heero's eyes opened, and his fingers nudged gently against hers before he grasped her hand tightly. Quickly, he tugged her hand to his mouth and kissed their intertwining fingers. The smile he bestowed upon her was full of understanding, but it was a genuine smile.

He hardly spared one of those.

She stared at him, desperately hanging on to his hand as she looked at and reveled in what she had almost lost. The bite of her ring dug into both their flesh, uniting them. Relena almost didn't hear the start of the ceremony that easily could have been a funeral.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to share the union…"


End file.
